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For many PR people, it’s the core of what we do. For many others, it’s just one of many strategies. I am in the latter camp. I use it sparingly, when it is the right strategy for what my client or company is trying to accomplish.

Too often, media relations—the practice of working with members of the print, broadcast and digital media, to place a story—is the “go to” strategy companies use when they want to get the word out about something, or raise their profile in the public’s eye. Rarely is it the right strategy for them.

That’s because media relations is like hoping you’ll get hit by lightning while in line to buy a lottery ticket. The chance of placing a story, due to the incredibly vast competition for air space and ink, is so slim it’s often not worth the time invested.

But more importantly, it’s usually not even the right strategy for the client or company. By that I mean, in most cases, the target audience comprises only a tiny fraction of the audience of the media outlet, so the return on that invested time spent getting the story placed is not great.